


Smiling because it's you

by sexymarshmall0w



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bullying, Fluff, Graduation, M/M, Most characters are just mentioned, Slow Burn, but not so slow i guess, college party, just a little bit though i swear, the dotae is just hinted but it's there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22448518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sexymarshmall0w/pseuds/sexymarshmall0w
Summary: Youngho loved plushies, and Ten. Not necessarily in this order.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50
Collections: Johnny Fic Fest: Round One





	Smiling because it's you

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is what you expected, my dear prompter. And if it's not... I'm sorry!  
> Fic for the prompt #JS72

Since he could remember, Youngho has always been surrounded by plushies. The first plushie he has ever owned was gifted to him when he was a little baby by his grandma, to play with and be his very first best friend. Johnny quickly found out that plushies were great companions and could help with many difficult situations.  
Another kid stole his favourite coloured pencil, the pretty violet one he always used to draw sunsets with? Dumbo was his first choice then because, according to his mom, elephants bring luck and he really hoped he would have some luck and get his pencil back.  
He fell trying to catch the neighbours’ dog and scraped his knees? The soft teddy bear with the beige polka dots bow on the front would come to his aid, because it was big enough to actually cuddle. Youngho knew that each plushie was special, because he just knew in his tiny hear and because his mom said so, and everyone knows moms are always right. Each plushie was his little helper and was assigned with a specific task. His mom knew as much and made sure to always ask for the right plushie’s help.  
But there was something his mom used to say that he could never understand.  
“Youngho, my precious boy, it will come a day when you’ll want to give your plushies to someone. And that will be okay. Because that someone will be your best friend and will need the plushies’ help as much as you do.”  
That, Youngho didn’t get. He didn’t get why he would want to give his plushies to someone, and he didn’t get what a best friend actually was. Because he was 6 years old, and so far kids at school didn’t really talk or play with him. So, he wasn’t really sure about the whole best friend thing, but his mom said so, so it must be true.  
Which is why when the following morning the teacher introduced a tiny boy with a pretty smile as “your new friend Ten, he just moved from Thailand so be good to him” and he thought that Allie the alligator would love to play with this new kid Ten, he knew that once again his mom was right. And that the new kid Ten would become his best friend. 

Ten was different from him. Way different. Youngho knew because Ten was always surrounded by friends smiling at him and he wasn’t. But Youngho wouldn’t worry too much about it because Ten would also smile at him from time to time and would try to get him to talk.  
Youngho didn’t really like talking to the other kids because they were loud and made fun of him for his plushies, but he liked talking to Ten. Ten was gentle and smiled a lot so Johnny liked him and thought about finally introducing him to Allie.  
He thought about it really carefully and decided that this was one of the important decisions he would need his mom’s help for.  
“Mom, there is new kid in class. He’s not from here and maybe he needs a friend like Allie. Do you think he needs a friend like Allie?” he asked his mom hoping for a positive answer.  
“Oh, sweetie. I’m sure he’d be happy if you introduced Allie to him.” his mom replied smiling kindly.  
“Okay!” Youngho said while turning around to pick up Allie from his designated spot on the shelf. Tomorrow he would bring Allie to school and Ten would finally meet his new friend. 

The day didn’t go as Youngho planned because as he got to school the other kids realized he brought a plushie with him and would not stop teasing him.  
They would call him all sort of bad names and Youngho wanted to cry. He couldn’t understand what was wrong with plushies and why everyone was teasing him.  
He tried to explain that he wanted to introduce Allie to Ten but he only got mean laughs in reply.  
Youngho was hoping the teacher would arrive and save him but it clearly wasn’t happening, so he took Allie and ran to the bathroom, where he hid in the farthest stall from the door.  
He was finally alone and could finally check to see whether Allie was okay, because those rude kids tried to grab it a few times and he was scared it got ruined somehow. He was glad to see that luckily nothing happened to his beloved Allie, but for how glad he was he still couldn’t understand why he was being teased.  
Youngho sniffled loudly and gasped immediately after when he heard the bathroom door opening. He was fearing that the kids were looking for him to tease him more, so he tried to be as quiet as possible.  
He had no idea how much time has passed before he heard the typical sound of squeaky rubber shoes stopping in front of the stall he was hiding in.  
He stayed silent, hoping that whoever it came looking for him would go away. But then he heard a voice he was not expecting at all.  
“Youngho, are you there?”

“You know you can come out right? There’s only me here.”  
Youngho stared at the closed door trying to decide whether he trusted Ten enough in that particular situation. He finally concluded that maybe he could give Ten a chance.  
“Are you really alone?” he asked with a tiny voice.  
“Of course, I am! I wouldn’t lie.” Ten replied hastily.  
Youngho took a deep breath and got closer to the door.  
“I’m gonna open the door so please don’t make fun of me, okay?”  
“You know I won’t. Please, open the door.”  
Youngho opened the door and looked at Ten, who was smiling at him kindly.  
“Told you it was only me.”  
“You probably know why I was hiding.”  
“Yes, and I don’t really care.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“That they were being mean to you for a stupid reason and I get why you were upset so I don’t care. Also, can I meet your friend?”  
The last question was what made Youngho look up directly into Ten’s eyes and ask him if he was sure. Because meeting his friend was a big deal in Youngho’s little world, and he wanted to make sure Ten wouldn’t make fun of Allie.  
“Of course I am! You brought your friend to school because you wanted me to meet it so please let me meet it!”  
And that’s how Youngho decided that he really wanted Allie to be friends with Ten. 

•°•

“Ten, hurry the fuck up! We’re already thirty minutes late and you know how Taeyong gets when we’re late.”  
“I’m honestly more worried about Doyoung looking at us disapprovingly.”  
“Hurry up, then.”  
“I’m ready, I’m ready!” Ten screamed from the bathroom.  
“What is even taking you so long?” Youngho asked to the closed door.  
“Oh, you’ll see!” Youngho thought he didn’t really like the amusement he could hear in Ten’s voice.  
He started looking at the pictures adorning the walls of Ten’s house and noticed he added a few more to his collection.  
“Ten, when did you take these?” he asked.  
“What do you think?” he got in response. He was focusing so hard on the pictures that he didn’t realize the bathroom door has opened.  
“What do I think about wh- oh.” Very eloquent John Suh, he thought.  
“So?” Ten prompted again.  
“You look good.” Was the only think that Youngho managed to say looking at Ten’s new silvery lilac hair.  
“Really?”  
Youngho though there was no way that Ten could look bad in anything or with any weird haircolor. And he thought that knowing full well that, for him, Ten looked good even with that terrible reddish black hairdye Ten never wants to talk about.  
“Sure. Can we go now?” 

It wasn’t the first time that Youngho realized that Ten was, objectively speaking, good-looking and it probably won’t be the last either.  
The very first time Youngho really stopped to think about it was when they were 15 and 14 respectively and he heard four girls talking about hot guys in the school and mentioning Ten. Until that moment he never really connected the adjective hot with his friend. He knew his best friend was good-looking but was he hot? Youngho couldn’t tell.  
So he started looking at Ten to see whether the girls didn’t have great taste or whether they were right. Turns out they were right.  
He couldn’t tell what it was but there was something about Ten that was straight up magnetic. Yes, girls were cute and soft and everything nice, but they didn’t smile like Ten.  
It took him a short amount of time to realize that Ten was, indeed, hot but it was enough to make him wonder if best friends think about their other half like that. 

Having a major realization right before hitting a, probably lame, college party wasn’t how Youngho foresaw his evening going, but apparently his timing was terrible and now he was stuck with the very same Ten who was also still very much his best friend.  
Did he like Ten? Of course he did.  
But, did he like Ten?  
Youngho thought really hard about the answer and all he could come up with was Ten smiling, and Ten changing hair colors like it was a pair of jeans and always looking amazing, and Ten hating fruit but always getting the fruit salad for lunch in the canteen because he knows Youngho is too shy to ask for two anyway, and Ten dancing at prom with his date and soon to be first serious boyfriend, and Ten calling his name, and… okay. Yes. Youngho liked Ten. A whole lot. And he probably already knew, but it is hard to accept that your best friend might be something more.  
Tu put it quite nicely, Youngho was panicking. Internally, mind you. Because he was in college now and passed the phase of hiding in a toilet stall to run away from his problems. So internally panicking it was.  
Ten, oblivious to Youngho having an almost mental breakdown, was talking about some dude or another and Youngho tried to follow and show interest. He really did.  
“Dude, are you listening?” Ten finally asked him.  
Oh boy.  
“I would love to say I was, but you know I am a terrible liar.” He replied, hopefully smoothly.  
“Are you okay?” Ten asked again. “You look kinda agitated, I don’t know.”  
He totally knows.  
“I’m perfectly fine, I swear.”  
“Is there someone at the arty you’re excited to see?”  
Youngho could feel the red slowly coloring his cheeks.  
“I can’t believe this! There is someone! Youngho, this is amazing! I’m so happy for you, my dear friend. Oh it’s been so long, isn’t it? When was the last time you liked someone? Was it that-”  
Youngho took a deep breath, composed himself and willed the red to just leave his cheeks alone.  
“Okay, you got me. There is someone. But it’s not like that at all. So please don’t go ahead of yourself and embarrass me screaming the news at the top of your lungs right after walking through the door, because I know you and you know yourself and we both know you would have done precisely that.”  
“I’m feeling so attacked right now, but yeah I can’t even deny it because I would have totally done that.” Ten replied smiling innocently. What a bullshitter.  
Youngho shook his head smiling fondly. “I think I might know you a little too well.”  
“Nah, that’s Allie. She knows me better than anyone else.”  
So, here’s the thing. After the disastrous event that actually led to Ten being his friend, Youngho did give Allie to Ten as a gift. Because Ten was special and he deserve to have Allie to confide in.  
Ten never made fun of him for it. And still doesn’t. He always tell Youngho that Allie is his best friend and the only one that really knows him. And Youngho can imagine Ten in his room, with his mismatched pyjamas, which probably include a band shirt that Ten stole from Youngho — “I don’t steal them, Youngho! I just borrow them and never give them back because they’re comfortable and because you don’t need any more band shirts so I’m actually making you a favour!”, Ten would say — talking to Allie as if it was a real person and telling it all of his worries.  
Just thinking about it makes Youngho’s eyes get teary, because they’re in college now but Ten still brings Allie with him whenever they move for whatever reason. Be it going on vacation or coming back from winter break, Ten always makes sure to bring Allie with him. And if that wasn’t enough of a reason to like Ten, Youngho doesn’t know what a good reason is. 

They finally got to the party and Youngho could see that Ten was trying really hard to refrain from screaming about his crush to the first person he met. But that would make Youngho uncomfortable, so Ten wouldn’t do it.  
The person who opened the door was Doyoung who, as Youngho predicted, scowled at them for them for being late.  
“Doie, it’s a party. Relax. No one is ever on time.” Ten said opening the door wider.  
“That’s the problem, though. If no one is on time who is supposed to start the party so that when the others arrive the party is already in full swing?” Doyoung replied still scowling.  
“You actually have a point. I never thought about it that way.” Youngho said while trying to look past Doyoung. “Who else is here?” He finally asked.  
“Taeyong obviously, Yuta and, weirdly enough, Donghyuck and Mark. Probably because of Mark, but I’m still wondering how the hell he managed to get Hyuckie ready in time.” He said counting on his fingers.  
“I’m not sure I want to know, to be honest.” Youngho replied now looking directly at Doyoung instead of past him.  
“That’s- yeah.” Doyoung retorted scrunching his nose. 

After another minute of small talk on the threshold, the group finally made their entrance to the party, which clearly still wasn’t in full swing.  
“Guys, you took literally for ever!” Donghyuk screamed from the sofa he was sitting on. Youngho looked at him and wondered even more how Mark and him managed to get to the party that early because it was clear that Donghyuck put a lot of effort in his makeup.  
“Hyuckie, your makeup looks great!” Youngho complimented him, because he knew Dounghyuck took pride in that but also because he really thought so.  
“Hyung, why don’t you ever tell me I look good then?” Ten suddenly asked him with a slightly annoyed look on his face.  
“I don’t?” Youngho asked, surprise clear in his voice. He was sure he complimented Ten all the time, but if the other complained about it maybe he didn’t do it as often as he thought he did.  
“You used to, but then you stopped. Did I get ugly or something?” Ten asked smiling, even though everyone could say that he was trying to play it off as being ironic.  
“Oh, I see.” Youngho replied.  
“That’s all you have to say?” Ten pushed.  
“Ten.” Youngho started saying. “I always think you look amazing so don’t come fishing compliments, okay?” Wow, where did that come from? Youngho didn’t even drink anything yet. Great self-control right there.  
“Oh. I guess- that’s fine then!” Ten replied turning around and heading to the kitchen. Youngho thought he saw a hint of red on his cheeks, but he probably saw wrong. Right? 

•°•

Youngho could see all is friends from were he was standing. Some bringing flowers with them, some with a piñata? No, clearly Youngho saw wrong. That can’t be a piñata. Some with the same robe he saw wearing, some laughing their heart out, some smiling prettily. All his friends were there, and Youngho couldn’t be happier. Looking to the left Youngho could even see his mom talking to someone.  
All his friends were there with him. His families, both the natural one and the chosen one. Youngho really couldn’t be happier. He thought about how everything started. With Ten protecting him from the bullies and pushing him to befriend more people. Youngho, the giant nerd, and Ten, the people’s person.  
He is sure that if he got where he is right now, about to say his Valedictorian speech — because for some reason someone thought he was good enough to speak for his entire year — is partly due to Ten, who stood up for him and showed him that being shy was not necessarily a flaw.  
Ten, who was snow laughing smirking next to Kun, clearly teasing him for some reason or another. Ten, who was still more beautiful than anyone else. Ten, who was always surrounded by people and doesn’t need Youngho the way Youngho needs Ten. Ten, who Youngho wanted to confess to. Because he probably has been in love with Ten since day one, and graduation seems like a good day to embarrass himself.  
Youngho looked one last time at his friends and made up his mind. He was going to confess. Go big or go home. 

Youngho started to regret his decision as soon as he put his foot on the first step that would lead him to the microphone to give his speech. But he wasn’t one to give up easily. Regret his decisions, yes. Give up, never. So he kept walking and smiled awkwardly at the crowd once he reached the bookstand, because deep inside, hidden under the body of a tall and broad young man, there was still the kid who hid in the bathroom to avoid being made fun of.  
“Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Suh Youngho and, apparently, I am this year Valedictorian.” He started saying, trying not to forget any part of the speech he rehearsed too many times already. At least this part he was calm enough saying.  
“FUCK IT UP, JOHNNY!” someone that sounded a little too much like Yuta screamed from were the students were sitting and Youngho laughed before composing himself back to his serious persona.  
“I could make this speech very long talking about the importance of education, but I won’t I’m just here to say that although there have been many difficult times when I thought to give up and that I couldn’t make it, I somehow made it. And if I did, you all could. Not necessarily in an academic environment, but in life in general. Don’t give up, chase after your dreams, and even if they don’t come true find new ones. Surround yourself by people who love you and that you love. Your family, for example, or even your friends. Or your significant other, if you have one.”  
Youngho swallowed and took a deep breath getting ready for the next part.  
“You could even do like me, and I will show you what I mean.” He said looking for Ten in the crowd and fixing his stare on him.  
“You could copy me and decide that the Commencement ceremony is the best place to confess to the person you have liked since you were five. Because apparently confessing in front of everyone is cool, right. They do it in the movie, and I’m doing it too. I hope I don’t have to say the name out loud because, hopefully, this person knows already. The person who smiles brighter than the sun and whose laughter could make me happy even on the darkest of day. Yes, I’m cheesy, but they know already. So, my special person whose name I won’t say because it’s okay if I get embarrassed but they don’t have to, I just wanted to say that, hey, apparently I love you. And I usually don’t compliment you because I always feel like I sound like a moron in love when I do. So, please forgive me for that. And I realize I put you in a terrible position because we’ve been friends since forever and this might get awkward. But I thought that the end of an important section of my life, as college is, might also mean a new beginning in other sense. So, my dear one, that’s all I have to say. You don’t have to answer me, but this is how I feel.” Youngho clapped once and smiled a little.  
“Now, back to us! You’re destined to amazing things so don’ get discouraged. Have fun!” He concluded and left the stage. 

“Youngho, get back here!” Ten screamed trying to catch up with him.  
“Nope, sorry. Not happening. This is a party and I don’t want to be sad for the rest of it!” He replied trying to walk even faster.  
“Why would you be sad? I swear, just stop for a second! Let me talk to you!” Ten answered back, annoyance making him raise his tone.  
“Ten, let’s face reality. This is not happening. And I would like to at least pretend for a day that my heart is not breaking.”  
“Dude, honestly, fuck you.” Ten gritted through his teeth.  
“Excuse me?” Youngho asked, not expecting that reaction.  
“I said fuck you. And I repeat it. Fuck you! You’re not making me speak and you decided on your own, I want to underline, that you’re getting your heart broken. So now, you fucker, you will let me talk. Because, yes, you’re embarrassing and you seriously could have chosen any other way to confess to me and I hate you a little bit for it. But, this doesn’t mean I don’t like you back. I like you. I swear I do. Which is why I always got sad when you wouldn’t compliment me. Even though I always put in a lot of effort because I wanted _you_ to say something nice to me. But you wouldn’t. And now I know why. But I didn’t! And it made me sad every single time, especially when you admitted to have a crush. And I thought that this person was the luckiest person ever because they got to be liked by you. But apparently that was me all along and now I feel stupid. But, I like you, if it wasn’t clear. And please stop me because I know I’m basically throwing words up at you.”  
So Youngho did. He got close to ten, closer than he ever was and with trembling hands on Ten’s cheeks asked him, “Do you really like me?”  
And Ten smiled. Because he always did. “Of course I do.” He answered.  
And that was that. So Youngho smiled back and finally kissed Ten. Because he has wanted to for years, and now he finally could.  
He wondered for a small second if his inexperience was showing, but Ten was literally melting into the kiss so he guessed he must have been doing something right.  
So that was that. 

•°•

“Dude, I can’t believe you pull something like that! What the fuck?” Jaehyun asked him as soon as Ten and him got back to the aula magna, where the party was.  
“Well…” He started saying.  
“Leave him alone, Jae. If that was the way he thought appropriate to confess to the love of his life, let him be.” Doyoung said, a teasing smile adorning his face.  
“Why do I feel like you’re making fun of me?” Youngho asked.  
“Because I am.” Doyoung replied.  
“Guys, leave my boyfriend alone. We all know he’s an idiot.” Ten said, silencing everyone up, who then immediately started laughing at the expenses of Youngho, who whined a little for his bruised ego, but no one needs to know that.  
“I still like you, though.” Ten whispered in his year.  
So that was that.


End file.
